The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins Book Analysis

The Hunger Games is a very popular and inspiring novel, as Katniss shows her dedication to those she loves and her sympathy for those wronged by the Capitol. The two characters, Rue and Prim are very similar to one another by the perspective of Katniss, and so Katniss decides to team with Rue during the Hunger Games, which is a deadly fight of twenty-four people. Katniss decides to team with Rue due to her nimbleness, intuition, and intelligence, which reminds Katniss of her younger sister, Prim. Both Prim and Rue get explained by Suzanne Collins in ways that complement one another and truly describe their similarities. Collins uses similes and diction to give the reader strong emotions for both Rue and Prim, who are very similar characters to Katniss in the story.

Prim is Katniss’s younger sister, who Katniss fights to protect with all of her life. Suzanne Collins uses a simile at the very beginning of the story to explain the innocence and loveliness of Katniss’s sister. “In sleep, my mother looks younger, still worn but not so beaten-down. Prim’s face is as fresh as a raindrop, as lovely as the primrose for which she was named.” (Collins 3). This simile is used to describe how Prim looks and how beautiful she is. This gives the reader a more positive view of her and helps the reader see how innocent Prim must be. This is a constant reminder to the reader what Katniss is fighting for and why Katniss fights in the Hunger Games. It also helps tell the reader how protective Katniss is of the people she loves since she volunteers later in the story to protect her lovely sister, Prim.

Rue, a girl from District 11, teams up with Katniss in the Hunger Games to try and prolong their survival. They both work together to destroy the “Careers” food supply or the main food supply in the arena. Rue reminds Katniss of her younger sister Prim, with Rue’s delicate and innocent ways, and Rue’s determination to make an impact and be brave. Suzanne Collins uses diction to show the reader how Katniss tries to give Rue the most peaceful death and show Rue’s innocence and the Capitol’s dirty hands in her death. “I can’t stop looking at Rue, smaller than ever, a baby animal curled up in a nest of netting... A few steps into the woods grow a bank of wildflowers. Perhaps they are really weeds of some sort, but they have blossoms in beautiful shades of violet and yellow and white. I gather up an armful and come back to Rue’s side. Slowly, one stem at a time, I decorate her body in the flowers. Covering the ugly wound. Wreathing her face. Weaving her hair with bright colors… She could really be asleep in that meadow after all.” (Collins 236).  In the arena of the Hunger Games, a lot of people die, and eventually, a boy from District 1 kills Rue, but in her time of death, Katniss finds her and takes care of her until her eventual death. Katniss also uses flowers to show the Districts watching that it is the Capitol’s fault that this young, innocent girl named Rue died. This impacts the reader with strong emotions of dislike towards the Capitol and sadness for the death of Rue, since she was such an innocent and loving character, much like Katniss’s younger sister Prim. Collins uses the words “...a baby animal curled up in a nest of netting…” to describe Rue when she died, and it shows the reader how small and innocent she was. It reminds us throughout the story how cruel and easily hateful the Capitol is to many, and how unfair this world is.

Collins uses strong emotions in her words to bring the reader into the story and make them feel sympathy and sadness for some of the characters, precisely Prim and Rue. They are both such similar and innocent characters, and the author helps portray their innocence and kindness through resources of language and diction. It also helps the reader understand what Katniss is mainly fighting for, and how unjust the Capitol is. Both Rue and Prim are thoroughly described using similes and diction, and the words used help explain to the reader just how innocent, pure, and beautiful Rue and Prim are, and the unfortunateness of their situations draws forth emotions of sadness, sympathy, and regret.